At six foot five inches, Ball State University closer Kyle Heyne towers on the mound slinging his slider, fastball and changeup to close the door on his team's victories.
Up until this past weekend, Heyne was tied for the Ball State career saves record with a self-described short, fat with little power pitcher from the 1980s.
In the second game of a doubleheader of the Cardinals season-opening series Heyne broke the tie. With a 1-2-3 inning Heyne collected the 25th save of his career, pulling one ahead of Ron Schrock's 24.
Schrock held the record since before Heyne was born in 1984. Schrock saved 11 games that year, which was a record then and is still fourth on the single season list.
Holding a record for almost 25 years creates a sense of ownership of the record for some people who want no one to break it, but Schrock isn't that type of person. He said he has no resentment toward Heyne for breaking his long-held record.
"Not at all," Schrock said. "I was fortunate to even have the opportunity to be a closer because when I went down there it was just at the start of the specialization of pitchers. So up until that point of time there weren't that many guys racking up saves. At that point in time the game hadn't evolved to have closers until right about the time I went down there."
Schrock played for Ball State from 1983 to 1985. A modest Schrock said he was surprised to hold it for as long as he did because he wasn't the most talented pitcher.
"For a fat, six-foot, 80-mile-an-hour-thrower relief pitcher it was amazing I had it for that long," he said. "I wasn't the most talented guy in the world. I knew it had to fall someday; I'm just glad it fell to another right-hander that throws sidearm."
Heyne, who is in his fourth year as a closer, said he's glad to have broken the record not because he wanted the record but because of what a save means for the team.
"If I get a save it means we win and we obviously can't get anywhere if we don't win," he said. "I don't care if I pitch or not I just want to win and get another [championship] ring on my finger."
Heyne also said he was glad to get the record behind him so he can move on to worrying just about getting back to the NCAA Regionals. Ball State coach Greg Beals said having a guy like Heyne as his closer makes it all the easier.
"It's hard to put into words what he means to our team and how valuable it is for us to have a guy who's a legitimate closer," Beals said. "A guy who everybody in the program counts on and knows that's our guy. When it gets to the ninth inning there's no question who's going to go out there."
Heyne appeared in 29 games for Ball State last year, collecting 10 saves with a 2.31 ERA. He also had five wins, which tied for the most on the team.
Schrock said he still hasn't contacted Heyne but did want to pass on a message to the current closer.
"Congratulations, and I hope he makes this senior year his best one yet," Schrock said.
Despite never meeting or talking to him, Schrock said he is sure Heyne is one of the best to ever take the mound as a Ball State Cardinal.
"There have been better pitchers between me and him but I'm sure he's one of the best," he said.
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